1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for preparing text and pictorial materials for printing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The business of printing can be generally broken down into two basic functions: the so called "pre-press" function, in which the text and pictorial materials are prepared in a format acceptable to the printing press; and the step of actually printing the output of the pre-press step.
Traditionally, the pre-press part of printing has been very labor intensive and uses large quantities of paper, film, art supplies and other materials. This step also demands careful manual proofing for errors. In recent years, the labor intensity of the pre-press function has been reduced significantly through the development of so called "desk top" publishing techniques associated with automated data processing systems. Further, there have been developed automated data processing and image scanning systems for preparing a data output representative of the pictorial elements to be printed with the text materials. There have been a number of suggestions for merging the pictorial/graphic elements with the text output of a desk top publishing system, but prior art solutions have required extremely expensive work stations and very skilled manual labor.